Field goal

As a field goal is worth only three points, while a touchdown scores at least six (which usually becomes seven with a successful conversion, and potentially eight with a two-point conversion), teams will generally attempt a field goal only in the following situations: • It is last down (third in Canadian football, fourth down in American football), especially if the offense is more than a yard or two from a new first down, and within kicking range of the goalposts (about 45 yards at the professional level). • In the first half, if there is only enough time remaining to execute just one more play, regardless of the down. • In the waning moments of the second half, if a successful kick will win or tie the game. In this situation, a team may choose to attempt the field goal on an earlier down or if there is still enough time remaining to execute more than one play. If there are problems with the snap or hold, the team would be then able to abort the kick attempt (kneel down, or throw an incomplete pass), and still have at least one down and time remaining to re-attempt the kick. • In overtime, if a successful field goal wins and ends the game, a team may choose to attempt a game-winning kick as soon as they get into field goal range (for example, a long pass completion that advances the ball inside the opponent's 20-yard line). In this situation, a team may just decide to try to end the game rather than risk another play that could result in a turnover. Except in desperate situations, a team will generally attempt field goals only when keeping a drive alive is unlikely, and its kicker has a significant chance of success, as a missed field goal results in a turnover at the spot of the kick (in the NFL) or at the line of scrimmage (in the NCAA). In American high school rules and Canadian football, where a missed field goal is treated the same as a punt, most teams still opt not to attempt field goals from very long range since field goal formations are not conducive to covering kick returns. Even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently. If a team chooses not to attempt a field goal on their last down, they can punt to the other team. A punt cannot score any points in American football unless the receiving team touches the ball first and the kicking team recovers it (though it can result in a single in Canadian football), but it may push the other team back toward its own end. The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 68 yards, a record set by Cam Little on 2 November 2025, which broke the record previously held by Justin Tucker (2021) at 66 yards. Cam Little kicked a 70-yard field goal in a preseason game in 2025. The record in the CFL is 63 yards, set by Sergio Castillo on August 9, 2025, tying a 24-year-old record by Paul McCallum, which was believed for years to have been 62 yards, though evidence confirmed McCallum's kick was actually closer to 63 yards. High school, college and most professional football leagues offer only a three-point field goal; however, some professional leagues have encouraged more rare kicks through four-point field goals. NFL Europe encouraged long field goals of 50 yards or more by making those worth four points instead of three (much like Australian rules' Super Goal or basketball's three-point line), a rule since adopted by the Stars Football League. Similarly, the sport of arena football sought (unsuccessfully) to repopularize the drop kick by making that worth four points; it failed since only one kicker (Brian Mitchell) was able to do it with any semblance of proficiency. In six-man football, all field goals are worth four points instead of the usual three. The overall field goal percentage during the 2010 NFL season was 82.3%. In comparison, Jan Stenerud, one of only three pure kickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (along with fellow placekicker Morten Andersen and punter Ray Guy), had a career field goal percentage of 66.8% from 1967 to 1985. ==How field goals are kicked==

When a team decides to attempt a field goal, it will generally line up in a very tight formation, with all but two players lined up along or near the line of scrimmage: the placekicker and the holder. The holder is usually the team's punter or backup quarterback. Instead of the regular center, a team may have a dedicated long snapper trained especially to snap the ball on placekick attempts and punts. The holder usually lines up seven to eight yards behind the line of scrimmage, with the kicker a few yards behind him. Upon receiving the snap, the holder holds the ball against the ground vertically, with the stitches away from the kicker. The kicker begins his approach during the snap, so the snapper and holder have little margin for error. A split-second mistake can disrupt the entire attempt. Depending on the level of play, the ball, upon reaching the holder, is held up by either the aid of a small rubber "tee" (all ranks up to the high school level, which is not the same as the kickoff tee, but rather a small platform, and comes in either 1- or 2-inch varieties) or is placed on the ground (in college and at the professional level). of the Washington Redskins attempts a field goal against the Carolina Panthers in 2018 The measurement of a field goal's distance is from the goalpost to the point where the ball was positioned for the kick by the holder. In American football, where the goalpost is located at the back of the end zone (above the end line), the ten yards of the end zone are added to the yard line distance at the spot of the hold. Until the 1960s, placekickers approached the ball straight on, with the toe making first contact with the ball. The technique of kicking the ball "soccer-style", by approaching the ball at an angle and kicking it with the instep, was introduced by Hungarian-born kicker Pete Gogolak in the 1960s. Reflecting his roots in European soccer, Gogolak observed that kicking the ball at an angle could cover more distance than kicking straight-on; he played college football at Cornell and made his pro debut in 1964 with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL; his younger brother Charlie was also an NFL kicker. The soccer-style kick gained popularity and was nearly universal by the late 1970s; the last full-time straight-on kicker in the NFL was Mark Moseley, who retired in 1986. ==Successful field goals==

If there is any time left in the half, the method of resuming play after a successful field goal varies between leagues. ==Missed field goals ==

A missed field goal is said to be "no good" if the kicked ball does not cross between the uprights and over the crossbar of the goal posts. If it misses to the side of the uprights, it may be called "wide left" or "wide right". A field goal attempt may be described as "short" if it does not have sufficient distance to go over the cross bar. Some commentators will only describe a field goal attempt as being short if it appears to have been aimed correctly while others will describe an attempt appearing to lack both accuracy and distance as being both wide and short. If a field goal attempt is missed, and the ball does not go out of bounds and has not been ruled dead by a referee, then a defensive player may advance the ball, as with a punt or kickoff. This type of play usually occurs either during an extremely long field goal attempt or if the attempt is blocked. If there is a significant likelihood of a miss and the strategic game situation warrants it, the defense places a player downfield, in or near their end zone, to catch the ball. The risk in this is that the return man may be tackled deep in his own territory, at a considerably worse position than he could have gotten by letting the ball go dead (see below); furthermore, should the returner fumble the ball, the kicking team can recover it and gain a new set of downs (the advantage is that the kicking team is lined up very close together to stop kick blockers, and not spread across the field like a kickoff or punt team, and is therefore in poor position to defend the return). Thus, teams will usually return a kick only towards the end of a half (when the kick will be the final play) or in a particularly desperate situation. If a ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar but lands in the field of play, the ball is considered dead and cannot be returned. (This is not the case in arena football, where large "rebound nets" surround the goal posts for the explicit purpose of keeping the ball in play.) However, if the ball continues into the goal after caroming, the score counts. If the ball re-enters the field of play after crossing the vertical plane of the goal, the score also counts; this is now known as the "Phil Dawson rule" after the eponymous player scored a game-tying field goal that rebounded off the back support of the goal and back into the field of play. Situations where the defense does not return a missed field goal vary between leagues and levels of play: ==Blocked field goals==

block a Texas A&M field goal attempt. Occasionally, the defense will succeed in blocking a field goal. If the ball falls in or behind the neutral zone, it is treated like a fumble and can be advanced by either team. If the ball instead falls forward beyond the neutral zone, it is treated like a missed field goal under the rules explained above. ==History==

In the early days of football, kicking was emphasized. In 1883, the scoring system was devised with field goals counting for five points, touchdowns two points, and conversions four points. In the following year touchdowns doubled in value to four, and rose to five in 1898. Meanwhile, the value of a conversion fell to two points in 1884 and one point in 1898. The Canadian field is in width, wider than the American field. The NFL increased the height of the uprights above the crossbar to in and in 1974. In , they were raised five feet to after the adoption of a proposal by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. The "slingshot" goalpost, having a single post curving 90° up from the ground to support the crossbar, was invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The first ones were built by Alcan and displayed at the Expo 67 world's fair in Montreal. The NFL had standardized its goalposts in 1966 and adopted the slingshot for the season. In 1948, the NCAA authorized the use of the small rubberized kicking tee for extra points and field goals, but banned them by 1989, requiring kicks from the ground, as in the NFL. The CFL allows the use of a tee for field goals and convert kicks, but it is optional. During the NFL season, a record 90 field goals of 50 yards or longer were made. In , this record was raised to 92 field goals of 50 yards or longer. ==Longest field goal records==

NFL • 68 yards, Cam Little, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 2, 2025 CFL • 62 yards, Paul McCallum, Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Edmonton Eskimos, October 27, 2001 Professional spring football • 64 yards, Jake Bates, Michigan Panthers vs. St. Louis Battlehawks, United Football League, March 30, 2024 College football The following kicks were successful with the use of a kicking tee, which was banned by the NCAA after the 1988 season. Additionally, prior to 1991, the goal posts were 23 feet, 4 inches. They were narrowed to 18 feet, 6 inches in 1991. After the 1988 season, the use of a kicking tee was banned. The following kicks were successful without the use of a tee. The longest known drop-kicked field goal in college football was a 62-yard kick from Pat O'Dea, an Australian kicker who played for Wisconsin. O'Dea's kick took place in a blizzard against Northwestern on November 15, 1898. U Sports The longest field goal in U Sports football history is 59 yards by Niko Difonte of Calgary Dinos playing against the UBC Thunderbirds on November 11, 2017. The field goal was the final and winning play of the 81st Hardy Cup. High school • 68 yards, Dirk Borgognone, Reno High School vs. Sparks High School (Nevada), September 27, 1985 Independent amateur • 68 yards, Fabrizio Scaccia, Treasure Coast Bobcats (FL), March 29, 2009 === Independent Women's Football League === • 44 yards, Sarah Oliver, California Quake vs. New Mexico Menace, April 26, 2008 ==Longest missed field goal return records==

NFL CFL Because the goalposts in Canadian football are on the goal line, and because downing the ball in the end zone results in the kicking team scoring a single point, field goal returns are much more common. The longest missed field goal return in the CFL is 131 total yards. Against the Montreal Alouettes on August 22, 1958, the Toronto Argonauts' Boyd Carter ran 15 yards, then threw a lateral to Dave Mann, who then returned it for the final 116 yards. This return, which started 21 yards behind the goal line, was during the era of 25-yard end zones (which made the maximum theoretical missed field return distance 134 yards in those days) and therefore cannot be met or exceeded on the modern field with 20-yard end zones. Since the shortening of the end zones in the CFL in 1986, a field goal has been returned for the maximum 129 yards on four occasions: by Bashir Levingston of the Toronto Argonauts on June 28, 2007, by Dominique Dorsey also of the Toronto Argonauts on August 2, 2007, by Tristan Jackson of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 14, 2012, and by Trent Guy of the Montreal Alouettes on September 23, 2012. NCAA In NCAA college football, only five missed field goals returns for touchdowns have ever been returned 100 yards or more: • September 17, 1966: Don Guest (California Golden Bears), 108-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 47-yard field goal attempt by Washington State. • September 7, 2013: Odell Beckham Jr. (LSU Tigers), 109-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 59-yard field goal attempt by UAB. U Sports In U Sports football, like in the CFL, the longest possible missed field goal return is 129 yards, and this has occurred three times. • Jeremy Botelho of the Manitoba Bisons playing against the Simon Fraser Clansmen on September 11, 2009 • Jedd Gardner of the Guelph Gryphons playing against the McMaster Marauders on October 8, 2010 • Tunde Adeleke of the Carleton Ravens playing against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on October 5, 2013 ==See also==